Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance regrets referring to some female leaders as “childless cat ladies” because “a lot of people took it the wrong way,” he revealed during a recent interview.
Since jumping into the 2024 presidential race, Vance has faced criticism for a comment that resurfaced in 2021, when he said that “we are actually run in this country by Democrats, by our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of cat-loving women with no children.”
However, the senator says the statement was taken out of context.
“I want to be vice president for the whole country and I want to represent everybody. And yes, I did make a sarcastic comment years ago that I think has been deliberately misinterpreted by many Democrats,” Vance said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
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Vice presidential candidate U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) addresses the audience at a campaign rally on August 20, 2024 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Andy Manis/Getty Images)
Vance was then asked again if he regretted the comment.
“I’m very sorry that a lot of people misunderstood this. And I’m very sorry that the DNC and Kamala Harris lied about it,” the vice presidential candidate told the outlet.
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“From time to time I’m going to say things that people don’t agree with. I’m a real person, I’m going to make jokes, I’m going to say things that are sarcastic. And I think the important thing is that we focus on politics,” Vance added. “I have a lot of regrets, Kristen, but making a joke three years ago is not in the top 10 of the list.”
Former President Donald Trump, left, poses for photos with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) before delivering remarks to a crowd during an event on August 21, 2024 in Asheboro, North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits)
The Ohio senator added that he believes the United States is becoming increasingly “anti-family” and wants to give women more options in starting a family.
“I want to change that,” she said. “I think if you talk to young women, whether they have children or not, what you hear consistently is that a lot of young women feel like they don’t have options.”
While Vance continues to defend his statement, Democrats have criticized the comment since he was selected as former President Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024.
Oprah Winfrey criticized Sen. JD Vance for his “childless cat lady” comment while speaking on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 21, 2024. (Mike Segar)
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called it “offensive,” while Oprah Winfrey singled it out in her speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
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“Despite what some would have us believe, we’re not that different from our neighbors. When a house burns down, we don’t ask about the race or religion of the homeowner, we don’t ask who their spouse is or how they voted. No, we just try to do the best we can to save them,” Winfrey told attendees at the Democratic National Convention. “And if the house happens to belong to a woman who has cats and no children, well, we try to get that cat out, too.”
